Homemade Pepper Marshmallows

This post is about pairing a homemade pepper marshmallow with Base Camp Brewing‘s newly bottled S’more Stout, now available in Portland, OR. I was compensated to write about the S’more Stout release, however, recipe as well as thoughts are my own.

I would be lying if I said I didn’t love marshmallows. When scorched over a fire, they are one of my guiltiest pleasures. My favorite thing to do is peel the charred bits layer by layer, re-roasting each time, until I’ve hit the soft, gooey center of the marshmallow–the heart, if you will.

I just had to make my own. It was a week that Ktams was out of town. My first batch of marshmallows boiled over while in the liquid state and covered our stove in a thick molten sugar glue–not near as fun as it sounds–my second batch was done under his supervision, and the marshmallows turned out magnificently. Few know this, but Ktams is a candy-making GOD. It’s got a lot to do with his attention to detail and his unrelenting talent at following every single direction ever. He and I are not cut from the same cloth. That said, he needs that knack to be a great candy maker, as candy requires constant attention and exactness. He also brought our candy thermometer into the relationship, which would normally be the only thing I’m missing to make marshmallows. .

I’ve made every attempt to make this recipe as Bee-proof as possible. My only other piece of advice is DO NOT LEAVE the pot unattended at any point while it’s on the stove. Do not turn away, do not attempt to multi-task.

For my recipe, I went off of the pros–since I’ve always had an enormous Alton Brown crush, I went with his recipe for homemade marshmallows found here and adapted for no cooking spray (because we don’t really use it) and the added pepper. Some may be asking, “why add pepper?” and to that I answer–because my friend Bri thought it would be a neat idea! Duh. I love the idea because it adds an interesting little bite, but is not, in any way, gross or weird. If anything, it’s strangely addictive.

Items Needed

Stand or hand mixer

Spatula

Small saucepan

Large, heatproof bowl

Candy thermometer

13×9 pan or two square 8×8 pans

Method

Start with filling a large bowl with 1/2 c water and the gelatin packets. Set to the side for later. This is a good time to oil and powder your pan(s) for later–this is done by combining the confectioners’ sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl and oiling the pans with either oil or butter (I used butter because we don’t keep nonstick spray on hand). Once oiled, spread cornstarch mixture, 1 T at a time, across all inner surfaces of the pan. Place to side for later. Reserve the rest for later.

In a small saucepan on medium heat, combine the granulated sugar, corn syrup, 1/2 c water, and salt. Cover with a lid and cook for 3-4 minutes (this is where you risk overheating/boiling issues–keep an eye on this pot!). Once the timer goes off, remove the lid, and secure the candy thermometer to the inside of the pot.

When the temperature on the candy thermometer reads 240° F (also known as soft ball in the candy world), remove the pot from heat immediately. Turn mixer on low, breaking up the newly formed gelatinous masses (careful, if your mixer is on too high it will go everywhere as one big glob of gelatin). Then, SLOWLY add the molten hot mixture to the upper side of the bowl, allowing max time for cooling down the side of the bowl as it enters your gelatin mixture. Then mix, mix, mix! For 12-15 minutes to be exact–until the mixture has gone from yellowish to a glossy white and is room temperature. During the last 2 minutes of mixing, add in your flavoring (in this case vanilla and grated peppercorns). You could add lots of things though! Try this recipe with cinnamon and cardamom, coloring, sprinkles, chocolate, and more!)

Remember the powdered pan(s)? It’s that time. Be QUICK! Scrape the marshmallow fluff into the pan(s) as quickly as possible, being sure to leave at least half an inch from the top for ease in dusting more cornstarch mixture across the top (I like to use my sifter to do this).

Now it’s time to find a nice quiet, safe place for the mallows to take their time to form. I like to leave mine out overnight in a room away from everyone–that way no curious fingers find their way to them.

I’ll wait while you wait…

***

Alright–Now it’s time to cut them up! My favorite way to do it is to pull the slab of marshmallow from the pan to the cutting board, grab my super serrated, sharky, bread knife and cut the blocky marshmallow into small cubes. Then, in a large gallon ziplock, pour in the cornstarch mixture and the marshmallows. seal with air, and shake until all cubes are evenly coated.

Store sealed at room temperature for up to one month.

These make great gifts as well! My favorite things to enjoy them in are on the edge of my S’more Stout (now available in stores!), in hot chocolate, chai lattes, and on their own (scorched with our torch of course!) 🙂

4 days agoby TheSpicyBeeLet’s pause for a moment as I would like to call out my main squeeze Ktams for really going above and beyond recently. *** A few weeks ago our fridge bit the big one at the young age of 4 yrs old. Distraught, we salvaged what we could from the fridge and began the stress inducing process of deciding whether we spend the money on a repair person coming out (that we had deduced would cost nearly as much as replacing the fridge) or coming up with about 1.5K to replace it. He came up with an option C which